FRINGE REVIEW – Dusk on the River Nile, Zakar Theatre

After an intensely lifeless opening Dusk on The River Nile proceeds to enlist the careworn theatrical device of play about players putting on a play. In this case a young theatre company eating up some fantastical budget by tooling about in Egypt looking for inspiration for their interpretation of the Osiris and Isis myth. I’m afraid that when the leader/director of the company implores for more emotion and meaning from his actors struggling with their subject matter – I’m hoping for the same thing.
however about 20 minutes in the entrance of the real Osiris and Isis show up to enliven the action and redeem the tired narrative as the gods join forces with the theatre troupe to tell the rest of the tale. Osiris is also by far the best actor although the rest of the cast probably suffer from the clunky script and mediocre direction which refuses to stretch them to any depth of expression at all.
Getting progressively better throughout the 50 minutes there are some nice moments of physical drama – the creation of Isis’ fire for example, which indicates there may be more ability to the company than at first on show.
When there are such a lot of student and youth groups performing far superior stuff on the Fringe these guys should have spent more time upping their game instead of watching The Mummy